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Going to the Dogs Off-leash or not, you'll need your dog on its best behavior for your wedding 
Multi-genre award-winning singer/actess Jennifer Hudson's Pomeranians all have names inspired by the some of the biggest events of her life - Oscar, Grammy and Dreamgirl. So it makes sense that she'd want to have them on hand for one of life's other big events. "I want my dogs to be in my wedding. I am so serious," Hudson recently told entertainment show "Access Hollywood." "Oscar might be the ring bearer. We'll send them down the aisle with a little tux or something, a little dress." Most dog-in-wedding stories you'll read about will suggest having a handler for the day to watch over your pup, but there's no saying you have to. "Whatever the wedding couple would want is what we train the dog to do," says Joe Orsino Jr., who operates Mr. O's Dog Training Place in Lower Burrell, Pa, adding "a lot of it can be done off-leash with the dogs." Orsino trains dogs to perform "traditional" dog roles, such as ring bearer or "flower dog" that walks down the aisle, but also to stay up at the altar during the ceremony near the bride and groom or wedding party - all off-leash. "The best one we like to do is the dog walks down the aisle in front of the bride," he says. Orsino conducts a one-day program with dogs a few weeks prior to the ceremony for obedience and personality training and then meets with the couple and dog a few times leading up the ceremony - including a dress rehearsal - to get the dog familiar with the both the venue and its owners' wedding-day attire. "One of the reasons I meet with the couple at the church is to work out the kinks," he says. How well a dog performs in the ceremony - if capable - depends on the dog's behavior, so if you're considering having your dog in your wedding, Orsino says to find a really good obedience program (even if the dog has gone through one before) to get your pooch in the right shape for the big day. |
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